Decoy



Sept. 25, 1923.

1,468,979 H. E. SHERMAN ET AL DECOY Filed Jan. 1922 Patented Sept. 25, 1923.

U ITED, STATES ias aeiza Estes.

,, HARRY E. SHERMAN 'ANn-LoUIE A. SEER-MAN; on KANSAS new," Mrssotrn fAs SIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To maEaIcA cAnTmnoE coiarANv, E

SAS CITY, MISSOURI, A'.CORPORATION or rarssonal, g

Toia ll whom it may concern Be it'kno-wn that we, HARRYE. SrrERMA and LOUIE A. SHERMAN, citizens of the I:UI1lt9Cl States, residing at KansasCity, in

5 the county of J ackson, and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Decoys; and we do declare the following to be a full, clean-and exact description of. the invention, such as'will;

enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, refer-jence being had to the accompanying. drawings, andto the figures of reference marked --;thereon, which form a part of this specifi- 16 cation.

Our inventionrelates to decoys and more particularly to one simulating wild fowl,

In accomplishing these objects, wej 'halve. provided certain novel details of construe-J tion, the preferred form of which is illus trated in the accompanyingv drawings,

wherein- Fig. l is a perspective view of a decoy made in simulation of a wild duck and illustrated as riding upon a. body of water. I

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, the.

body part being in section to illustrate the detail construction.

33 of F Fig. 4 4-4 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is an elevation similar to Fig. 2, but showing the decoy-collapsed.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, 1 designates a body member corresponding in shape to that of a wild duck and which may be decorated on the exterior to resemble the coloring and physical characteristics of the bird, the interior of the body being hollowed out to form a chamber 2 having a central bottom opening 3, extending forwardly from about the longitudinal center of the body.

As a decoy is intended to have the appearance of the fowl as the latter is riding upon the water, the body portion is shaped to correspond to that'of the fowl under such conditions by forming the lower part of the fowl in action as well as appearance, and- Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line.

is a vertical section'on the line.

. body of considerably greater width the upper ridge, (Fig. 3). The interior'of the body is hollowed so that the sides of the chamber 2 extend laterally from the central bottom opening 3, forming ledges onoppo site sides of the opening, over which the water riseswhen the decoy is seated on the surface of a lake orstream, this'ar'range-g ment and construction provldinga stabilizing j support which, .while permitting the rocking movement natural to the live bird, will not cause the body to sink lower-in the water than is suflicient to affordan anchon age and, permit the body to roll, the-water.

'ballastreturning the body to upright posit-{ tion ateach rolling movement; The body opening isextended vertically.

atthe front to form a slot 4' and pivoted-in said Slot is a disk 5, forming apart of the breast'of the decoy and carrying the neck 6 and head 7. At thebackof. the neck-i6 is a.

boss Sadaptedtoengage a shoulden-S) on the. bodyflmember to limit rearward pivotal F movement of the neck and hold the head upright, Thepivotal mounting is on a pin 10 that extendsthrough the forward portions of the body and through the .disk' 5, the I mounting being sufiici'ently-loose to permit Y freemovement of the. head so that it may imparted by the usual surface disturbances raise; and lower under the rocking motion 7 Attached to the disk .5 above the center and whichcarries an anchor Weight 13,

whereby the decoy is held in upright-post tion and prevented from drifting; ..The anchor not only serves to retain the decoy duced by the rocking of the body through the action of the water. 7 V In order to limit the downward rocking movement of the head, we provide a latch 14:

' axial line is an anchor rope llfwhich may be attached -to the disk'by an eye-boltlQ; 9o

comprising a strip of sheetmetal pivoted on a pin 15 within the body, and having an end '16 adapted to project into a slot 17 in the neck 6" and which is of sufficient width to permit the play of the head. The opposite end of the latch is turned to form a handle member 18, whereby the latch may be easily manipulated. The slot 3 in the bottom of the body member extends rearwardly a dis: tance sufiicient to receive the head of the decoy when the latch is removed and the head turned about on its pivot, (Fig. 5) the chamber 2 being extended at the top to form a pocket 19, into which the bill of the decoy may project so that the head and neck may be housed within the body member when the decoy is collapsed for storage or shipment, thereby not only avoiding breakage, but forming a more compact object, whereby a greater number of decoys may be packed in a given space than would be possible were the head formed rigidly with the body.

'lVith such construction a number of decoys may be packed for shipment with a minimum liability of breakage and when desired for use, may be set up by turning the head about on its pivot and placing the 'latch to limit movement of the head to that desirable for simulating a live bird.

When the decoy is placed on the surface of the water, its weight will submerge the lower portion of the bodyrso that the chanr her 2 is filled to a limited depth, thereby stabilizing the body without interfering with the desired rocking movement. As the surface of the water upon which the decoy is placed is usually'disturbed to some ex- "tent, the waves will rock the body so that it will tip at its ends. Thistipping movement imparts alternate pulling and releasing effects on the pivoted disk forming a connec tion between the head and body, so that the head will rock within the range permitted by the latch 14, thereby simulating the natural movement of a p the decoy having limited lateral rocking movement which is stabilized by the water ballast within the interior chamber.

lVhat we claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. A decoy comprising a body member having an interior chamber opening through the bottom of the body and having a vertical breast slot communicating with said'chamber, a disk pivoted in said slot on a horizontal axis, and having an extension forming live fowl on the water,

the neckand head of the decoy, and an anchor connected with said disk to yieldingly retain the head erect.

2. A decoy comprising a body member having an interior chamber opening through the bottom of tl ebody andhaving a vertical breast slot communicating with said cham-v her, a disk pivoted in said slot on a horizontal axle, and having an extension forming the neck and head of the decoy, and an anchor connected with said disk to yieldinglyv retain the head erect, said extension having a boss engageable with the body member to limit movement of the extension.

3. A decoy comprising a body member. having an interior chamber opening through the bottom of the body and having a vertical breast slot communicating with said chain: her, a disk pivoted in said slot on a horizontal axis, and having an extension forming the neck and head ofthe decoy, andan anchor connected with said disk to yieldingly retain the Y head erect, said. extension having a boss'engage'able with the body member to. limit movement oftheextension 1n one di retain the head erect, said extension having a boss engageable with the body member to limitmovement of the extension in one direction, and a latch on the body member engageable with said extension to limit movement thereof in the opposite direction, the disk being movable on its axis to house the neckand head members in the body chamher.-

In testimony whereof we alhx our signa tures.

HARRY E. SHERMAN. LOUIE, A. SHERMAN. 

